^{The Wisconsin Elk}     THE STUDY AREA
           ^{Reintroduction Project}

The study area, located near Clam Lake WI, is the Great Divide District of the Chequamegon National Forest. It includes approximately 719 square miles  in portions of Ashland, Bayfield, Price, and Sawyer counties. The dominant landform feature is ground moraine interspersed by many small areas of outwash deposits with a large area of bedrock along the northern boarder. Bogs and streams are common across the area and drainages are predominantly well drained on upland soils. Many depressions with moderately well to very poorly drained soils are present. The main vegetation components of the forest are northern hardwoods, aspen, swamp conifer/hardwoods, jack and red pine.

Centered in the study area, is a 315 square miles Primary Elk Range that adheres to Forest Service compartment boundaries and contains the U.S. Department of Navy's Naval Radio Transmitter Facility, also called the Extremely Low Frequency Communications System (ELF). It is surrounded by 404 square miles of Secondary Elk Range that shares its boundaries with the boundaries of the 2 districts. Public land ownership within the Primary and Secondary ranges are 87% and 80% respectively.

An elk Habitat Suitability Model (HIS), developed for the elk range in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, was applied to the proposed study area; it indicated that suitable elk habitat existed. The habitat of the elk range in Michigan is similar to that of northern Wisconsin. The HIS model specifically addresses the critical periods of winter and spring and these periods are assumed to relate directly to overall annual habitat quality. Potential limiting factors addressed by the HIS model for elk in northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan were availability of winter and spring foods and winter thermal cover.

The focal point of the experimental release area in Wisconsin is the Navy's ELF line. This line has 2 antennae segments extending north-south and east-west, resembling the letter X. Each segment is approximately 18 miles long. Power lines from the ELF headquarters, located at the intersection of the 2 segments, parallel the eastern and western ELF lines, 0.5 miles to the north, for approximately 2 miles along each line. Maintenance of these transmission lines requires removal of all trees and shrubs within a 100-ft.-wide strip beneath the line. This constitutes 12 acres of open area for each mile of transmission line (total = 480 acres).

Openings are an essential feature in elk range for forage in early spring through June and again in the fall during rutting activities. Vegetation structure of 18 miles (216 acres) of the ELF line and 2 miles (24 acres) of the power line is grass-forbs on dry uplands. Sedges and forbes in Michigan woodlands adjacent to openings were fed on by elk during spring and that winter rumen contents also contained sedges and forbs.

Forest Service records show that approximately 64 small grass-forb wildlife openings are being managed within 0.25 mile of the ELF line. This creates 200 acres of additional forage. There are approximately 745 similar openings within a 10-mile radius of Clam Lake. Aspen clearcuts adjacent to the ELF and power lines, completed in the last 5 years, total 427 acres and can also be considered openings.

In association with the openings, aspen management for pulp production creates forage habitat for elk. There are 3 forest stand types with aspen components adjacent to the ELF line; 1) quaking aspen (P. tremuloides), 2) upland balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and 3) aspen-white spruce (Picea glauca)-balsam fir. The latter 2 have viable aspen components. Within 0.25 miles of the ELF and powerline there are 2286 acres of quaking aspen, 541 acres of upland balsam fir, and 349 acres of aspen-white spruce-balsam fir; 968 acres of these stand types are in the 0-15 year age class. Use of aspen stands by elk was high in Michigan during all seasons and those in the 0-15 year age class were most important. Aspen is a major component of elk winter diets in Pennsylvania. The ELF line area also contains white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), deciduous and lowland conifer stands that constitutes thermal cover for elk due to their dense cover in lowland topography. At least 10% of the study area contains winter cover that is considered to be highly suitable and more than adequate for elk (USDA 1994).

Bibliography for the references cited above.
Map of the study area. (25KB)